Slingshot rider Grant Hore Wing Skating at Woody Point QLD, Australia

We caught up with Grant who was happy to support us and told us a bit about himself and what got him into Wing skating.

Here's what he had to say..

"My name's Grant Hore. I'm 54 next month. I live just north of Brisbane City on the Redcliffe Peninsula in Queensland Australia.

I wing skate in one of our bay side outdoor car parks at Woody Point QLD when the wind swings around to the West during our winter months.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/6d87ab_0fc423ad581c44289fdc2663cb7f9205/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

I took up wing skating to help learn wing foiling tacks and gybes and to avoid the cooler water (it's Queensland so not really cold) I had never tacked on a wing foil so the training was invaluable. I've been kitesurfing since 2007 so when foiling came around I gravitated toward kitefoil then as wing foiling grew I decided to try that.

My first wing skate session was back in 2020 at the Woody Point Jetty yacht club carpark. I had some demo gear from Slingshot Australia (I'm a team rider) when the Slingwing V1 dropped (purple wing) I was keen to see just what else it could do. I also liked the SlingwingV2 but I guess any wing will do the job.

So I picked up my Zflex drop deck longboard and went for it, I think it was the speed that hooked me, my Garmin showed 27kmph! man I cut so many laps of that car park I must have worn down the tarmac.

But be warned tarmac and wings are not a good mix, yeah they have Kevlar bumper patches but it's not everywhere. I remember a buddy saying that's not an easy fix, and then I noticed a stone embedded into the leading edge. Sooo that was the end of that session.

I think my friends were placing bets as to how much skin I would lose and to date I've lost none. I was riding in my heavy duty work trousers, I never bothered with much protective gear, not so smart now I think about it.

I've had buddies film me with their phones and I've also attached my gopro to the rear handle for some cool shots.

Advice for riders getting into the sport, protect your wing, and yourself, get a cheap second hand wing to start, depending on your size and wing size look for wind that's enough to pull you when standing still on the ground.

It would be cool to see some racing but at the age of 54 I think I would leave it for the young and resilient ones.

Me, I'm going to keep looking for flat tarmac with strong wind and just enjoy the feeling".